Dive in to pool’s past

Saturday

Sep 7, 2013 at 2:19 PM

Cynthia Grau

Two Pontiac women had the chance to take snapshots of the Camp-Humiston Memorial Swimming Pool at Chautauqua Park and a collection of those photographs are available for viewing in a gallery exhibit called “Dive” at the Livingston County Community Art Center, 103 W. Madison St., throughout the entire month of September.The array of photographs by Pam Beeson and Connie Kostelc were revealed during an open house at the center Thursday evening. Kostelc said there was a good turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.“A lot of people had stories to tell, lots of nostalgia and lots of questions about what we saw. It was a very fun and interesting experience to talk to the people,” she said.The pair was interested in taking photographs of the now-shuttered swimming pool and arranged for a photo shoot, which ended up being on what they described as a dark and gloomy day. Images captured show the different parts of the pool, from the locker rooms to the lifeguard stands and from the front desk to the benches that lined the top of the building.“I really like old, decaying buildings and things that are all rusty. They have a really neat patina that the new buildings don’t have,” Beeson said.Kostelc added, “We both are interested in different architecture from different standpoints.”This particular swimming pool’s architecture is rare.The pool was designed by structural engineer Wesley Bintz and built in 1925. He only designed a handful for various communities and Pontiac’s is the last example of this type of swimming pool construction in the country.The pool’s construction was funded through a trust left by Harriet Humiston and was named for Humiston’s father, Apollos Camp, and husband, Bennett Humiston. Upon walking into the deserted and unused pool, they both opined about the feeling of abandonment when seeing the state of the facility.“It had the feeling like it just suddenly stopped, which basically is what happened. The pool closed and not a lot was done and things were left there,” Kostelc said, describing the fact that the baskets used to hold street clothes were in place in the locker rooms, as were paint supplies and caulking, brooms and various other items. “I guess people were thinking they were going to be coming back and something was going to be happening with it and that never happened. I guess there was no group or whatever to clean things up because nobody knew what was going to happen with it.”Beeson added, “There was a magazine that was half read, open on the counter. It was like someone took a break and never came back.”The pool, which closed in 2001, is in a flood zone and has seen its share of time spent partially underwater.“I would think that if something hadn’t been flooded, you’d just see a layer of dust. Here, there is a layer of mud over things and you know you’ve been in a flood zone and that’s happened,” Kostelc explained. “Here you see a layer of mud and you can feel that it’s not just one layer, but it’s layer after layer. It’s been several years this has been happening, so it’s piled up. It was thicker in some areas than others, but there was definitely a layer of mud over everything.”Something both women noticed about the pool is its lack of a lot of vandalism and graffiti, citing only one place that they witnessed any destruction.“On the top in the actual pool itself, there was a little bit of graffiti, but it really looked like people had stayed out,” Beeson said.“I think, generally speaking, most people probably have the respect for the pool because they remember swimming there and I think even our kids now, who maybe haven’t been there, have a respect for it because it is unique and it is special,” Kostelc added.The pair is hoping people will come to the gallery and take a special feeling with them from viewing their photographs.“Just to remember the past and know that there is beauty in things that aren’t perfect,” Beeson said.“I think to realize what a beautiful, unique thing that we have let go to this point that I’m not sure that there’s any recovery,” Kostelc said. “We need to respect and we need to take care of our uniqueness in town, so when there’s a special or unique thing, let’s take care of it when we still have the chance.”